The Calm before the Data Storm
by Chyme for the Rhyme
Summary: Ai could be rather cunning and deceitful at times. But now, in pursuit of a tantalising hint his partner had dropped, he was about to show just how stupid he could be as well. (In which Ai is NOT the great detective he thinks he is.)


**Edit:** Sooooo, Roboppi has caused a bit of a stir in certain sectors online recently, what with their refusal to keep hold of a traditionally feminine persona now that they've attained free will. Although I suppose, in reality, it was the audience as a whole (and I guess Yusaku who progammed them, probably?) who decided certain mannerisms a robot portrayed were more in tune with a female persona than a male one? Either way, it makes sense. The ignis seem to have a more...human approach when it comes to identifying themselves, in part because they're modeled after humans, while Roboppi is not. Ai even states that them being granted the gift of free will is more a happy accident than a delibrate calculation on his part.

So, I guess for now, unless the anime makes it crystal-clear how Roboppi sees themself in terms of gender, I guess the best thing to do is to acknowledge them as 'they.' Hence the edit to this story.

* * *

Ai worried. Not in a creepy, I must-analyse-everything-and-run-ten-thousand-simulations the way Lightning or Revolver would do – he had no wish to create a destructive self-fulfilling prophecy, thanks, but, well, it would be a lie to say he hadn't run any calculations of a similar sort. Usually, there's too many sites to browse or episodes to gorge on while Yusaku was at school, and of course, there's the all-important task of educating Roboppi on how to be a proper minion.

And yes, they're coming along nicely, thanks. He only felt a little bad that they're never going to be quite as smart as they think he can make them, but hey, he's already done loads – their CPU was now running more efficiently, he'd partitioned their hard drive in a different way from the crappy factory settings and now there was more room for the data to connect and grow, to make those more complex connections in a way their core programming put limits on, something that yes, he'd taken a dabble on fixing himself, Yusaku, eat your heart out. The kid was a genius hacker, but he's no ignis, no _Ai_, and honestly, he really did _not_ deserve that slight pause in the doorway right now.

Because Yusaku was looking at him, metres away, practically hovering before the yawning gap of said doorway, fingers still clenched round the knob. And okay, it was sort of hilarious, and maybe oddly adorable, what with the way the line of his mouth had shifted, fallen open into a slight gasp beneath those rapidly blinking eyes, before even those settled, barely a second later, into their usual hard stare.

Not that Ai was fooled, oh no. Yusaku had mastered the poker face bone-chillingly well, but there was always a lot going on beneath the surface there.

'Err,' Ai had said, elbows deep in Roboppi's innards – the protective blue casing that covered the back of their head and the resulting connecter port had been carelessly tossed onto Yusaku's pillow, and, well, the few wires leaking out did look a bit incriminating he could _admit._ 'This isn't what it looks like, officer?'

Yusaku's eyebrows slammed down, not particularly heavily, but with an almost gentle twist of his facial muscles, just enough to make him glower slightly.

'Have you moved on from soap operas?' he asked, finally decided to brave the trip into the apartment as he stepped inside and closed the door behind him. 'Which detective drama did you pull that from?'

Ai felt himself preen and leaned back a little, drawing his elbows and the thin tendrils the rest of his arms had leaked out into, away from the mainframe of Roboppi he was currently fiddling with. No, not fiddling, re-designing. He was an ignis. He didn't fiddle. He created! He planned. He calculated!

'Ah, Yusaku, you got the joke! I thought you didn't watch enough of the stuff normal teenagers watch to get it!'

Yusaku ignored the jab, plodding down the stairs and letting his eyes roam over the half-dismantled state of Roboppi with a disapproving air.

'It 'looks like' you're giving Roboppi a few of what you consider to be improvements,' he noted and if Ai had a mouth, he would have beamed. As it was his eyes simply curled in those happily smug crescent moon curls that had never seemed to charm Yusaku even once, despite their really cool design. But ah, it didn't matter, because unlike almost every human extra on those hilarious detective dramas, Yusaku hadn't screamed or fainted, or starting yelling accusations upon finding a fallen body. He had instantly realised what Ai was doing, even if he had no hope of really understanding the complex re-writing and re-wiring his marvellous partner was currently engaged in.

Which, was more than natural, of course. Ai would never have originated from a dumb human.

Yusaku's mouth became a thin line. Well. Imperceptibly thinner. You could only really see it with a zooming in feature, which of course, Ai's vision, unlike organic human eyeballs, handily included.

'And,' his human partner added, the air of disapproval from him radiating even more. 'You're doing it all over my bed.'

'Pah,' said Ai rudely, 'like you plan on sleeping in it already. You're going to spend the next two hours hunched over your desk and destroying your posture in the name of homework, and then once your done rupturing your spine, you're going to microwave something, or else, you're going to forget, and I'm going to have to pester you to eat something like your _wife_,' – and here Ai paused to reform his arms properly, clench his fists and bop them just beneath the curve of his would-be chin in a pose he had seen over-excited schoolgirls do. He even kicked a leg up behind him in a half-skip, half-flouncing movement that the anime heroines seemed fond of.

One of Yusaku's eyebrow rose. Just slightly. Barely enough to be noticeable.

'-and then once I've convinced you not to faint-'

Yusaku looked very close to rolling his eyes. He probably wouldn't, but Ai could just sense these things about him sometimes, due to their connection as partners and their deep, intense friendship that transcended the bond between man and program! Or, you know, whatever.

'-you're going to write a new program or research something and get lost in yourself for hours, until you finally decide to collapse into bed, and by that time, being the efficient AI that I am'-

Yusaku didn't snort. But Ai could tell that he wanted to, he really, really could!

'-your covers will have long been cleared of the results of my excellent craftsmanship and Roboppi will have already cleared the plastic of your abandoned microwavable soup or noodles or whatever.'

Very pointedly, Yusaku's head turned, just enough to let his gaze travel over to the various pamphlets and mounds of bubblegum and all the other items of junk Ai had collected on his latest flight into town and had oh-so thoughtfully scrapped together into a small pile of rubbish in the centre of the floor.

'Shut up!' Ai demanded, fists clenched at his sides, and Yusaku's gaze travelled back to him, and while a stranger may have remarked that said gaze was dispassionate, Ai could very clearly the slight smugness there, the unspoken 'I-didn't-say-a-word' sentiment hanging there between them.

Ai stomped his foot on the protruding bulb of the Duel-Disk in a huff and something else travelled through Yusaku's expression at the sight.

'Oi, stop laughing at me!'

'No one is laughing.'

'You did, just now! Silently!'

'Unlike you, I can't be muted. That's something you should consider Ai.'

'Ha! Threats won't work on me, we're past that! I know you find me cute when you wind me up, but that's no excuse to bully me!'

Ever so slightly, a pained grimace forced it way onto Yusaku's face, tilting the line of his mouth into an awkward angle. 'No, you're definitely not cute.'

Ai pointed a finger at him. 'Liar! I'm onto you! You tease me all the time, constantly jabbing and poking with your cruel, heartless words, because you're a sadist!'

Yusaku's eyes roamed over the fallen form of Roboppi again. 'That's an odd accusation coming from someone who's dismantled their minion.'

Ai placed a hand over his chest, where he would have had a heart, had it been beating there.

'They're in no pain! I've removed the internal battery, so they haven't got the capability to detect any disruption to their data! What sort of monster do you take me for! And, before you can accuse me further, completely unfounded I may add, I've already made a back-up of them! Unlike the Knights of Hanoi and Windy, I'm no trigger-happy murderer.'

Yusaku sighed impatiently. 'I know that. But it would have been better if you had done it on the floor, so you don't' – and here he moved, palm smoothing out the creases in his bedsheets to reveal the shiny lump of metal, a rather important screw, that had rolled away and become hidden beneath the fold of material. '-lose any part of them wastefully,' Yusaku continued holding the screw up to the light as evidence. He popped it down next to the Duel-Disk with a slight clank.

'Urgh,' said Ai, as Yusaku began very carefully, but also quite pointedly, to remove Roboppi from his bed, as well as many detachable parts of them lying around. 'I was wrong before. Maybe you're the wife in this partnership.'

A slight smile tugged at Yusaku's mouth before it abruptly faded away. 'Only because I'm more responsible than you.'

Ai stomped his foot in outrage again, as Yusaku unceremoniously dumped the Duel-Disk on the floor along with him - but not before he caught the quick flash of another, much smaller smile on his partner's face. And okay, maybe it was more a twitch of the mouth than an actual smile, but nobody had eyes like Ai when it came to Yusaku. Well, okay, maybe Kusanagi could give him a run for his money…sometimes…but still.

Ai pointed a finger up at Yusaku's looming face dramatically, just before the guy had the chance to snake his fingers away from the Duel-Disk. 'Ah-ha! You do find me cute!'

Yusaku blinked, gave him a single perturbed look, then left to re-carve the outline of his bad posture into his abused desk chair.

Ai sniffed. 'I don't blame you,' he called up after Yusaku, his arms dividing and twisting into thin tendrils as they re-threaded themselves into Roboppi's head again. 'I am adorable! I come from you after all!'

Okay, that definitely made Yusaku freeze and glance over at Ai with a certain look of disbelief. And while Ai believed that _that_ earnt him a mental fist-bump, a vigorous one, it did also make him pause, tilt his head to the side, and rub his chin with a wavering tendril. 'Accept the compliment Yusaku-chan! Girls like guys who aren't afraid to blush once in a while!'

Yusaku, clearly deciding that the conversation had run its course, turned back to rummage through his back for his stylus, and hand-written notes that he kept a rather untidy bundle of.

'Ah, you'll be sorry that you didn't listen to your kindly Ai-sama! When you're old and grey and don't have a nice old lady fussing over you and making you miso soup, while I entertain your surly grandchildren.'

'You plan on sticking around that long?' Yusaku asked, without turning his head, eyes now fixed on his homework, though that did nothing to prevent an odd note of…something leaking into his tone. Wistfulness perhaps. Curiosity, certainly.

I plan on making sure you don't waste your life isolating yourself again, Ai thought. But as impulsive as he could be with his words sometimes, he instead chirped out. 'Ha! To see what you'll propagate into the human gene-pool? I can't wait! Watching half a dozen little Playmakers in action would a sight to see!'

Yusaku didn't move, didn't turn to fix him with a glare, but he did murmur, a slight twist to his brow as he read over a passage he was beginning to jot down, 'no, I'm not parent material.'

Okay, that was just sad. And horrible. That Yusaku felt that way, he meant. And Ai wasn't naïve enough to feel that Yusaku could perhaps ever fully feel whole, but he was damn determined to make sure he felt as full as possible.

'Give it a few years,' he said. 'Even if you haven't noticed girls yet, you will. At some point. Most mammals do. Or…' he trailed off thoughtfully, noticing the slight tenseness between Yusaku's shoulder blades and the way his pen had frozen against his stylus. 'You might find your attention drawn to boys instead. Or boys and girls. Men. Women. Hoovers. Whatever ticks your boxes.'

Yusaku's shoulders stiffened even more at that last example, and Ai pounced on the moment with glee.

'Oh, I'm no stranger to you humans and your kinks. I've seen what the internet has to offer.'

Okay, now Yusaku's head had twisted to face him again, definite apprehension written on his face. And ooooh such an expression was priceless! Ai was definitely screencapping it and importing it into his personal never-to-be-deleted folder.

'However you get your kicks, you can always adopt! Don't sell yourself short, you can hardly be a worse guardian than Lightning. Just look at how Bohman and Haru have turned out!'

Something flickered in Yusaku's eyes. 'Like you said, give it a few years,' he said, turning back to his paper. 'But right now, I'm not currently interested.'

'Yeah, but once all this is over, you might be in the mood sometimes to try a date or two with somebody, right?' Ai queried, with a dramatic flourish of a tendril which Yusaku couldn't see. Pity. 'You might settle down with someone who can put up with your charming eccentricities!'

Ai flinched as Yusaku's pen came to a scrawling halt. Maybe he had gone too far with that last remark? Yusaku was a great partner, really, an excellent duellist, reliable, protective, reasonably handsome in that his facial features were reasonably symmetrical, logical, brave, kinder than he let on…but well. He was also cold (not as bad as he had once been but still, there was room for improvement, _lots_ of improvement as far as Ai was concerned), an introvert (nothing wrong with that, not at all, except some of that isolated behaviour had been born because his trauma and his inability to connect with regular people and Ai didn't want that to hold his partner back from being who he wanted to be) and he had a very rough mean streak. Which Ai could live with, but some girls (and boys too!) couldn't. It was how some humans might say, was a turn off.

Maybe calling them eccentricities was a step too far. But never the less AI reckoned he had watched enough shoujo, delved through enough fanfic, and maybe brushed through a few too many online psychology papers for kicks and giggles, just enough to mostly say that Yusaku wasn't boyfriend material. Or at least not regular boyfriend material. Maybe ever. And he didn't seem to be interested in improving his desirability one iota.

'I said I'm not interested, Ai.'

'But you could be,' Ai pressed. 'Not now, but one day. You humans always look for happiness with each other. And you've found quite a lot of it with the bonds you've made already. But one day you might want a different sort of bond. And I don't think you should brush the possibility aside because you're worried that you _can't_ have that bond with someone.'

Yusaku's shoulders, if possible, because pronounced with an even greater hunch than before. 'That's none of your concern.'

'Huh?! You're my partner! Of course it's my concern! Partners want the other to be happy!'

'I'm pretty content right now, thanks.'

'That's not what I meant!'

Ai patched together a new path for data to flow between two disjointed nodes in Roboppi's mainframe, and cobbled together a new software patch to help them fight off that virus bug that had been making a few maid-bots try to excessively clean the toilet when a human was already sitting there (some hackers were really perverted, he had to admit) before he carefully uncoiled his tendrils from them. That would have to do for the time being. His concern for Yusaku was rising too much for him to fully concentrate on what he was doing.

'Human love is…okay it's not just human love because Earth's feelings for Aqua are pretty much the same, but you humans go on and on about it, and cutting yourself off from it, because you think you can't or shouldn't try for it isn't exactly brave, _Playmaker_.'

Yusaku jolted at the usage of his online alias, as Ai knew he would – that name carried meaning whether Yusaku liked it or not, a heroic meaning that held weight for many in the Vrains network. Courage, hope, even a form of worshipful love in a way…it was a name Yusaku could cast off easily when he bumbled around in his day-to-day life, going through the motions, and yet it still held some sway on his heart.

'Well?' Ai asked mockingly. 'Is the great Playmaker a coward in the art of romance?'

The next second Ai's metaphorical heart had sank all the way down to his rounded feet, the ones partially covered by the purple glow of the Duel-Disk centre. Because Yusaku was staring at him in a hard glare, just as he had many times before, but there was now something fragile about it.

'Hey,' said Ai, quickly slotting out the whirling fans of the Duel-Disk and forcing it to hover up to Yusaku's eyelevel. 'Yusaku…'

'Oh,' said Yuskau stonily, so stonily it made Ai flinch. 'You remembered my name. Maybe your memory files aren't corrupted after all.'

'No, no, fine, I'm sorry! I just…were you with someone once, in that way? Did you go through a bad break-up?'

Yusaku closed his eyes and sighed. 'Ai…'

'I'm serious! You're acting like a kicked ex!'

Yusaku opened his eyes, not quite as much flint present in his expression as before. 'Your instincts are a little off again, Ai.'

'No, no, my instinct's definitely telling me I'm onto something here!'

Yusaku sighed. 'No, it isn't. Because, **_one_**,' he said softly, holding a finger up carefully before Ai's bobbing form. 'I've never been in a relationship of the kind you're talking about. **_Two_**,' – and up came the second finger, Ai noted. 'The person I have a _few _feelings of that nature for, isn't interested in that sort of relationship.'

Ai let out a gasp that he really didn't mean to make as theatrically dramatic as it sounded, but Yusaku's stare bored into him as though he had anyway. _Unfair._

'And **_three_**_,_' his human partner said finally slotting a finger right in front of Ai's head, along with a suitably quelling glance. 'I've no interest in forcing myself to develop similar feelings for anyone else, or forcing myself to forget about the ones I already have to please your need for drama.'

Ai's chest puffed out in indignation, though he was still privately reeling from Yusaku's revelation. 'Oh, Yusaku-chaaaaaan…you really are adorable! And so much more grown-up than I thought you were!'

The look of annoyance Yusaku gave him at that practically dripped venom.

'But,' Ai added quickly, dropping the Duel-Disk down so that he was now level with Yusaku's hand, to offer it a few pats of solidarity. 'I'm sorry someone broke your heart. Want me to hack their computer and sign them up for some really annoying subscriptions?'

'No,' Yusaku said firmly, though he didn't seem surprised at Ai's petty solution. 'They're annoying enough as it is. Nothing you could do would change that.'

Ai's eyes narrowed. 'You underestimate me. Nobody in this universe is as annoying as I am when someone's hurt my partner.'

There was a faint trace of amusement on Yusaku's face now. 'Still, I rather you wouldn't.'

'But, but, but when did this happen? Because I'm with you most of the time, and it's not like you interact with a lot of people. Oh,' Ai's eyes widened dramatically. 'You really don't! It's someone I know, isn't it?' Then his eyes narrowed menacingly. 'Was it Aoi? She's pretty and you certainly keep tabs on her. Or Taker-_no_, no, you like him but I just don't see it. He's too rambunctious for you.'

Yusaku stared at him.

'Revolver,' Ai said decisively, smacking a fist into his palm. 'It's gotta be Revolver. You've always had this intense connection between you two. And I may be an AI, but even I can tell that he's a pretty bishounen by human standards. _Ooooh_, the next time you duel him you better _crush_ him even more ruthlessly than before!'

'It's not Revolver,' Yusaku said, trying but failing to look completely apathetic. Which, oooh, _interesting_. 'Though I'm beginning to wish it was.'

Ai gasped and clutched the sides of his face. 'Noooo! Don't say such scary things! If you work things out with him and he still wants to delete me, it would like living in a horror film 24/7!'

'I've finished discussing this,' Yusaku muttered, giving Ai a meaningful look. 'Go watch a soap opera, after you've finished mending Roboppi.'

'You're no fun,' Ai muttered moodily, placing himself on the ground once again. 'And you're underestimating me. Biiiig mistake Yusaku-chan. I'm definitely going to find out, who it is. Just you wait and see!'

* * *

'So you see,' Ai proclaimed loudly, the next time Yusaku was away from the apartment, as he bent forward to stare Roboppi straight in the visor. 'This mission is of the upmost importance! Number one priority! I know practically everything about Yusaku, but I didn't know this! It makes you wonder what else he's not telling us!'

Roboppi rotated their head by eleven degrees to the left. 'But Aniki, you did not tell Master about the fan-site you made for him, or how we modified the Duel-Disk to make it fly or-'

'Geh,' Ai said, flinching back, bow-legged as though he actually could trip backwards out of the Duel-Disk. 'Okay, okay, I get it, time out!_ This_ and_ that_ are completely different! Do I tell Yusaku everything? No! Because if I ran every plan by him, he'd say 'no' to at least some of them and if the time came when I actually needed one of my brilliant ideas to work and I hadn't done anything for it because I obeyed him like your regular idiot AI-

-'I'm not an idiot-'

'-a forbidden word, yes, yes, you've said it a hundred and seventy- wait a minute…huh, you _are _getting smarter. And breaking out of your core programming too!' Ai leant forward, a lavish smile present in his upturned eyes. 'Yosh! Good job!'

Roboppi preened, much like a cat, and Ai lent back, ready to continue on his tirade. 'Anyway, the point is, I keep secrets for good reasons, you got that? But Yusaku…he had no reason to hide this from me! Well, I suppose a rejected confession is embarrassing, heh. But hey, it's still kinda cute that he's experiencing a more typical high-school life. Aww, Yusaku-chan, I knew that was still mileage in your cuteness meter!'

Ai couldn't grin, but he sure as heck could snap his fingers with a pleased-looking expression on his face. Roboppi observed this, their eye icons wide yellow slits, before those flashed and changed into a set of slanted lines that helped to convey a sort of long-suffering expression. 'But you are very nosy Aniki! Perhaps the master wanted his privacy and we should give it to him.'

'Hey! I'm curious, not nosy! And I need to be otherwise Yusaku would never get anything done! Besides, Yusaku isn't stupid,' he added, rubbing his chin thoroughly, a wily slant to his own eyes. 'If he really didn't want me to know anything he never would have revealed the fact that he had feelings for anyone. He would have come up with another fact or excuse to feed me instead. No, he must want me to know. So I can do something about it!'

Roboppi rolled themself forward, neck extending downwards, so they could lean into his space invasively. Two points for the intimidation factor, Ai thought with satisfaction, _nice_. 'And the Master did not tell you to leave this matter alone?'

'Pssh,' Ai said, flippantly swatting the air in front of them in a clear back-off movement, which they obeyed, somewhat reluctantly. 'I listen to the words that come out of Yusaku's mouth, but sometimes you gotta listen to the ones he doesn't say!'

'Aniki…are you sure you just do not an overactive imagination?'

Ai's eyes curved into happy curls. 'Ooooh-hoh, I know I do. It's what makes me so great!'

* * *

Despite his great and bountiful imagination, Ai decided it was best to stick to the most plausible answers to this great and difficult quest he was about to take. He chuckled inwardly as he sailed through the net, easily bypassing the lock on the Duel-Disk and other restrictions Yusaku had _attempted_ to put in place, before he shifted through the lines of code and security protocols that surrounded the cameras that protruded out of the ceilings at Yusaku's school. Idly, he swept the corridors for Zaizen Aoi's quiet, un-obstructive form. Like Yusaku she lacked the loud, demanding charisma the popular students had, though much like his human partner, her steps were firm and her posture unbending, enough to display the quiet, leave-me-alone vibe Yusaku was a little too good at projecting.

Honestly, Ai mused, in some ways they would be the ideal match for each other. They could probably sink into comfortable silences together and not feel the need to disturb the air with anything more than breathing, much less the more interesting things in life, like an _actual conversation. _Had he been present in the Duel-Disk at the time, he would have formed a depressed-looking eye icon. As it was, Ai simply chose to observe Aoi, to take note of the classes she and Yusaku actually shared. More to the point, he noticed that although Aoi was polite enough to greet Yusaku now, Yusaku never really made any attempt to engage with her. Sure, he wasn't rude, at least not more so than with anyone else, but he didn't…well. _Try _to do anything with her.

Ai rubbed his fingers against his chin. Was Yusaku playing hard to get? Or was he genuinely uninterested? On the whole, most teenage boys, from what Ai had seen by customarily sweeping through the data logs of other students, and spying on the naughty bathroom breaks, when people would share a kiss beneath a notebook, or make plans to walk home together after school, their bobbing heads taking shelter under the shared shade of an umbrella (which was, for some reason supposed to be romantic – though at least Ai could appreciate the practicality of it in rainy weather), well, they tended to be with someone of the opposing gender. Most times, at least. A few of the students were more flexible.

And the conversations, he noticed, between boys could fluctuate over how cute an idol was, how pretty Blue Angel was, how much they wanted to protect them, how pure their smile was, etc, etc. It was pretty entertaining to watch.

So naturally Yusaku never played any part in it.

Honestly, Yusaku didn't really have time to get involved with Aoi or _any _girl. His gaze never seemed to flicker over to her or any female human in the school. Well, okay he may have observed her a few times, Ai caught him looking a few times, the naughty thing! But…he didn't blush and there was no gleam in his eye, not that same excited gleam or light of interest he saw in the eyes of other teenagers. Honestly Ai, had only ever seen a something like that launch itself onto Yusaku's face in the heat of certain duels.

Urgh. Maybe it _was_ Revolver Yusaku was head over heels for and Ai could kiss his hopes for a long life expectancy bye-bye.

At the very least, he could be sure that it wasn't Takeru Yusaku had the hots for. Yusaku relaxed in the other guy's presence but the companionship between them, the relationship…it felt like the kind he had had with Flame or Earth on their better days, when they weren't looking down their nose at him.

'What are you doing?'

Ai shrieked, whirling round in a flail of arms, and forming a half-aborted karate chop before freezing at the sight of Flame's judgemental gaze. He paused, then carefully let his arms drift to his sides, as though trying to not to startle the ignis in front of him.

'Don't you ever uncross your arms?' he asked, making his tone as jovial as possible

Flame, his arms locked into their customary folded barriers, seemed to tighten further into position. 'You're dodging the question,' he noted. 'I thought I sensed you here…what are you up to?'

Ai let out a huff. A small part of him, the part that was kiiinda protective of Yusaku wanted to tell the other ignis to back off. The other part of him, the greater part of him, calculated a few scenarios in the blink of an eye and dismissed Flame as any sort of a threat. The guy was too stuck-up to think that gossiping about Yusaku's crush was a good use of time.

'Yusaku is finally developing feeeeeelings,' he stressed, rocking back on his heels, as much as he could do while hovering with the blue flow of encrypted data that trailed over and around their forms. And then he preened under the feel of heavy annoyance that seemed to drop down on him from under Flame's slanted eyes. 'Naughty ones,' he said with a particular relish. 'For a mystery person! And I'm going to find out who!'

'Hmm,' Flame cast his gaze down in thought. 'Alright.'

Ai mimed falling over. 'That's it! No reprimand? No 'mind your own business, Ai!''

'We both know you wouldn't listen even if I told you to leave it alone,' Flame said confidently. 'Besides…if I thought Takeru was interested in anyone I would want to know who it was too. I would need to vet them out thoroughly. I assume Yusaku hasn't told you their identity?' He tilted his head with a hum, as though actually considering offering his help, which no, no, no! Flame would be a total buzz-kill about the whole thing. Way too serious! Honestly, Ai could picture him offering Go Onizuka up as a candidate for Yusaku's heart without a hint of irony!

'Hahahaha,' Ai trilled out. Honestly if he had been human he probably would have been sweaty. Which, _gross_. 'No, no, he's being stubborn about it. Mind you, humans jump in and out of relationships all the time. And he is a teenager. This crush thing will pass probably as nothing but a mere flight of fancy.'

Flame seemed to think this over. 'Maybe,' he allowed. 'But Yusaku seems like the type to fixate on things. He's not fickle, like you.'

Ai puffed his chest out. Ooooh, that Flame. 'I'll show you,' he practically hissed. 'I'll squeeze the information out of my partner, use the most ingenious forms of torture if I have to! I'll make him talk! Show you how fleeting this latest whim of his really is!'

Now Flame was looking a little alarmed, Ai was glad to note. 'Don't get carried away, Ai! I read that you have to be sensitive with developing young adults! You can't play with-'

'I'll play with Yusaku, how I like!' Ai retorted. 'You don't get it! I'm helping him, not hurting him! He keeps too much locked up inside, he needs to let it out or he'll stay locked up inside his sad little apartment for the majority of his life!'

And with that, he flounced out the network, before he could catch sight of the shake of Flame's head or the disapproving huff of his non-existent breath.

* * *

He started his 'play-time' that very afternoon.

'Hey Yusaku,' he chirped up from the Duel-Disk, after Yusaku just started to puzzle over a line of English homework – he knew from experience that it's the most likely time to get Yusaku to mutter some kind of annoyed answer at him, true or false, in order to get Ai to shut up and leave him alone. 'Which do you prefer, boys or girls?'

'Neither,' said Yusaku, his frown deepening as he scrawled down the wrong answer.

Ai pressed his hand over his face with glee. 'Hey, hey, that's a conditional clause, not an imperative sentence, you're gonna get marked down!'

Yusaku grimaced, but much like a surly but obedient child, let his eyes roam over the passage again, before he re-did the answer with a begrudging stroke of the pen.

'Peeeerfect,' Ai sung. 'Now no one will think you're stupid!' He paused, but no further response came from Yusaku, so he closed his eyes and tried again. 'What about…long hair or short hair? Which do you think is more sexy.'

The pen came to a halt. And Yusaku glanced at him from out of the corner of his eye. 'Baldness,' he said after a pregnant pause, with such utter seriousness to his voice that Ai flinched and almost fell over. 'It's too bad that there isn't a big market for that.'

Ai recovered and narrowed his eyes, peering up and using his zooming-in feature to catch the slight twitch to Yusaku's mouth.

'Liar,' he pronounced confidently after a moment. 'On the internet there's a market for everything.' He held his hands up and started curling and uncurling his fingers in a strange, rolling gesture, as though he wanted to fondle something. 'But if you've having that much trouble finding something to your perverted tastes, I could obligate…I'll be having all the bald porn out there bookmarked in your favourites in a flash! I'll get you signed up to all the risqué sites featuring it, I'll order all the-'

In one easy move, Yusaku reached out and tipped the Duel-Disk sideways, slamming a heavy book against part of the curved structure to keep it tipped at a sharp forty-five degree angle upside down.

'Whoa!' Ai flailed. It was like he was stuck in a roller coaster carriage that had frozen at the very apex of the loop-the-loop section. And of _course,_ he could leave the Duel-Disk, escape to the net, and of _course _he could probably shift the book himself, but Yusaku was watching him with his eagle sharp gaze and Ai paused.

Yusaku was not stupid. He probably knew deep down, that if Ai didn't want to be in the Duel-Disk then nothing Yusaku could do or say would keep him there. But it suited him to at least pretend on the surface that he could keep Ai as a hostage, and being in control of things was something that he savoured, no, needed, to keep functioning. Ai didn't really want to shatter that illusion unless he had no choice.

Honestly, this was a bold move of Yusaku, and it occurred to Ai, as he stared into those green eyes that weren't giving anything away readily, unlike the other far less charming eyes of humans Ai had seen time and time again, that he was being tested. Because his Yusaku was the most fascinating and intriguing puzzle, who had to keep pushing and taunting, and shutting him down, and Ai could never get bored of him and his surly tsundereness, never, never, even if it _was _annoying…

Ah, he was getting off track, wasn't he? And he didn't even have the excuse of the blood rushing to his head, the way a human in his current position could fall back on. That…was a little pathetic. Good job Lightning and Windy weren't here, they'd have a field day with this!

'Ah…' he muttered. 'You're a demon, Yusaku-sama. Here I am, trying to help you out of the goodness of my heart!'

'What heart?' Yusaku fired back, point-blank, and Ai flailed even more.

'Cruel! Mean! I hate you!'

Yusaku made a non-committal sound and flicked the edge of the Duel-Disk as though it were a gong or reception bell. 'You're an AI,' he noted. 'It's not an unreasonable question. You could have easily turned out more robotic than you did. How about it, Ai? Where do you think your heart lies?' And then to his utter disbelief, Yusaku poked him in the chest.

'Careful,' Ai hissed. 'I'm_ delicate_.' He embellished the word with as flowery a tone as he could, and Yusaku gave him a look that could have been disgust, but was far more likely to be amusement disguised as disgust.

'Buuut to answer your question, Yusaku, if I didn't have a heart I would never have such loyal minions!' Ai said confidently, well aware he could give a more serious answer if he tried. 'Linkuriboh and Roboppi adore me! Far more than they like you! And that's because I offer them something you don't! Pure, unadulterated, and unconditional love!' He threw his arms out to either side of him in an all encompassing gesture, well aware that this would look slightly more impressive if he wasn't currently upside down.

But Yusaku simply stared at him in response, chin resting in his cupped hand as though he were bored. And Ai deflated. 'Okay, maybe sliiiightly conditional. But the point is, I give them affection! I give _you _affection, even if you don't always deserve it!'

'Oh,' said Yusaku blankly, though there was now a small smile on his face, poking out in Ai's vision (how dare it) and all ready to slam him right in the heart! 'So you're saying you feel love for us? That's where your heart lies?'

'Urgh,' sulked Ai. 'You're a tricky bastard. Yeah, yeah, sure, of course I care! But I'm more interested in where your heart lies.'

Yusaku shrugged, and then casually, as though he were doing no more than readjusting a computer screen monitor, took the book away and flipped the Duel-Disk the right way up. 'I know. You weren't exactly being subtle.'

That's what you think, Ai thought smugly.

* * *

It was time to act. Ai had been the zealous detective, allowed Yusaku to think he'd won. And as Yusaku lay sleeping that night, he crawled out of the Duel-Disk, perched himself near his mouth and whispered, 'Yusaaaaaku, who do you liiiike?'

Okay, look, it wasn't exactly the scientific approach. But he had seen in on a television show once. And the one time he had done it before, asking if Yusaku would ever stop calling him a hostage, Yusaku had definitely breathed something back into his face. Something illegible sure, but _something._ And Ai had worked hard today, prodded at him with obvious questions so Yuskau's brain would still be churning itself up over the query, working on it subconsciously. Human brains were always thinking about stuff they thought they actively weren't, that's just the way humans were.

But that night, all he got back was a snore.

Ai stared at Yusaku's uncute sleeping face, crossed his arms, a little too much like Flame, and moodily sunk back into the Duel-Disk.

How could television betray him like this?

* * *

A few days passed and Aqua joined their side. And Yusaku told Ai that he and Kusanagi would help build a world for him and the other ignis, free of prying human hackers. It was a wonderful dream, one Ai wanted to believe in fervently.

Now, if only Yusaku could be happy, when he was gone, if only Yusaku could truly _allow _himself to be happy, to embrace being a human who was _allowed _to explore his more vulnerable feelings, Ai could rest. Well, okay they had to defeat Bohman first. But, well. Ai couldn't even allow himself to contemplate the possibility they'd lose. He did, enough to make a back-up, but still…

Yeah.

He whizzed through the network, followed the trace of the encoded ignis algorithm to where Aqua was staying in her Duel-Disk. Well, Aoi's Duel-Disk. But as long as Aqua was safe, who cared what belonged to who?

'Pssst,' he hissed, 'Aqua! I have a favour I need to ask!'

Aqua blurred into vision in front of him, hastily re-fragmenting some files she'd been sorting through. Ai was curious, but decided not to pry. 'Hey, can you come with me a moment? Yuskau's being stubborn about something and I need to pry some info out of him.'

Aqua paused. Blinked her opal pink eyes. '…I'm not your personal lie detector,' she said finally.

And Ai stomped his foot down on a particularly erratic line of code. 'Yeah, I know, I know! But I can't get the truth out of him and knowing him, he's going to hurt himself with it if he doesn't get it off his chest.'

A flicker of sympathy ran through her expression then and she put a hand in front of her chest, clasping it into a small fist. Not for the first time, Ai wondered how her human origin was doing. Like all the others, Aqua had never talked about her partner, but an instinctive unease, Ai couldn't help but feel as though there was a story there that she was holding back.

'It's to help him?' she asked, an uncharacteristic waver in her voice.

Ai threw his hand out. 'Yes! Yes! It's to improve his love-life!'

Aqua narrowed her eyes. 'Goodbye Ai.'

'Nooooo!' Ai reached out to her imploringly before she could throw a small virus in his face. 'Pleeeeeeaseeeee? I'm not asking for me!'

Aqua looked at him, her eyes flashing in that uncanny crystalline fashion, the way they always did when she was running a deeper analysis than usual for any hint of a lie. What she found must have satisfied her, because she straightened, that swishy sound of liquid sloshing as she spun her posture to one side.

'Alright,' she said. 'You seem earnest enough.'

Ai formed a small fist and pumped it. Yes! All according to plan!

* * *

Yusaku stared at him. And had he the cheeks and lips to do so, Ai would have pouted. Sure, maybe him and Aqua nestled together within the space of the glass-like hub of the Duel-Disk looked a _little _funny, what with them poking their heads out of it into the air but…

'Aniki, you're so cute!' chirped Roboppi. 'You and your friend look like gophers! Or meerkats!'

Ai couldn't pout, not exactly. But he could still level off a glare in their direction. 'Oi, oi, have you been watching too many nature documentaries?'

'Only with you! You're so bloodthirsty, Aniki, you like to cheer on the lions when they-'

'Okay, okay, that's enough!' Ai spat out hurriedly, because the look Aqua was throwing him looked far too judgemental for his tastes. Normally he didn't much care, but today he was asking for her help so some…_restraint _was needed on his part. 'Be a good minion and stay quiet and I'll make you something reeeeal nice, later on okay?'

'Horray!' Roboppi raised their arms up and down a few times in a mechanical cheer. 'I'm getting treated by Aniki!'

'But only if you're reeeally good, okay?'

'Okay!' chirped Roboppi, before their eyes flashed into a set of narrowed glare-like eyes at Aqua and they raised a single arm up to one of their eyes, then slammed it down again so their hand-clamp was pointing directly at Aqua. It was the closest thing they could manage to an I'll-be-keeping-an-eye-on-you gesture and all Aqua could do was blink in return.

'Just as I thought,' she murmured. 'Sadly, you're a bad influence on everything, Ai.'

Ai tilted his head to one side. 'Even Yusaku?' he asked faux-thoughtfully, wondering if it provoke some sort of defensive reaction out of Yusaku.

But Yusaku just blinked. 'Why are you here?' he asked, choosing to address Aqua instead. 'I don't think it's safe to wander too far away from Aoi at the moment.'

'I sent her a message,' Ai lied easily. 'So she came to me. Aoi is nowhere near as good a hacker as you, Yusaku. She's okay, but not great. She can't keep Aqua locked in.'

Yusaku eyed him, but didn't probe too deeply into the statement. 'I was asking Aqua,' he said firmly.

Aqua crossed her hands over her chest. 'Yusaku…'she said. 'I don't wish to be too nosy…'

No, Ai thought angrily. Be nosy! Be as nosy as you like!

'…and I may have no right to ask…but would you keep watch over Aoi for me, after this is over?'

Yusaku blinked again, looking genuinely surprised. If Ai didn't know better, he'd say he was flustered. 'Sure,' he managed after a moment. 'I won't get unnecessarily involved though.'

'And make sure she doesn't get involved with anyone who might hurt her?'

Yusaku frowned. 'I can't promise that. Aoi can make her own decisions over her life.'

'And what of your life?' Aqua pressed. 'Are you planning to get 'involved' with anyone?'

Okay, now there was a faint hint of suspicion to Yusaku's eyes, Ai could tell. His partner had leant back slightly, arm resting on his desk as he chose to eye them both more critically.

'No,' he said. 'I'm not interested in that.'

Aqua tilted her head to the side. 'Mmm,' she hummed. 'That's not an exact lie. But it's not the full truth either.'

There was more than a little anger to Yusaku's stare now, and Ai cringed slightly as that stare found him, morphing into a slight glare.

'Ai…' said Yusaku, his voice arranged into a slight growl.

And damn! Of course Yusaku was sharp! Ai loved that about him in a duel, but here and now, it was rather off-putting.

'Well,' said Aqua, slightly cautiously. 'Once we've safe, and secluded from those who wish to hunt us down, I'm sure you'll have more time to focus on things of that nature.'

Yusaku closed his eyes briefly. 'No,' he said, and it sounded weird, like he had to force his tongue to un-stick from the roof of his mouth. 'That's not important.'

Aqua's eyes narrowed. And Ai perked up. That meant Yusaku was lying about something, even if not directly.

'Aw, come on, just one hint, please Yusaku!' he whined. 'I won't say a word to them, I promise!'

The corner of Yusaku's mouth twitched. 'That's right, you won't. Because I won't be saying anything.'

Ai threw out his hands, frustrated. 'But you've already said something! If you really wanted me not to know, you would have never said you liked anyone in the first place!'

'**_One_**: I was trying to be as honest as possible,' Yusaku said levelly. '**_Two_**: some things don't feel right to lie about. **_Three_**: but that doesn't meant you should tell the full truth about them either.'

Ai placed his hands on either side of his head and wiggled his fingers in mock depair. 'Ah! You're driving me crazy! C'mon, is it Kusanagi-san and you feel bad about the age-gap or something?'

Yusaku looked a little annoyed now. 'This isn't going to work, Ai.'

'No, no, you need to know that feeling things like this are okay,' Ai said firmly. 'And you should take chances on them!'

Yusaku turned his head to the side, his eyes flickering to Ai quickly, then away. 'No, they'll be happier in the long run, once they're out of my life.'

Aqua went very, very still beside him. But Ai was too busy sniffing and getting emotional to pay as much attention as he should have. All he could think was that Yusaku was falling back into his lonely routine of keeping everyone at arms length and deciding that he couldn't really be a part of any human's life, not really, not even if he wanted to. He had already decided to give up on his crush, to let them walk on by, to not even dream about it, and that was too, too sad. Even Earth had been more true to himself!

'Yusakuuuu…' he wailed, the yellow pixels of his eyes blurring and became wavy at their curved edges.

'I see.' Aqua's voice was suddenly very calm, almost serene. But it carried a little sadness in it too. 'I take it to mean you don't experience physical attraction in the same sense plenty of other people do, Yusaku?'

Yusaku spun round in his desk chair, back deliberately facing them in a clear dismissal. Ai was a little astonished really. Yusaku could be prickly, sure, but he'd never been quite so quick to shut down a conversation with such an overt display of body language.

'Ah,' said Aqua with a small thrum of melancholy in her tone. 'Of course. I can understand why an emotional connection would hold more value to you. It did to Earth as well.'

And with that, she started to sink back into the Duel-Disk.

'Ai,' she said gently, before she disappeared completely. 'Don't push too hard. You might not like what you find.'

She hadn't - _wouldn't _\- be the first AI to warn him, to prophesize a regret he might carry into the future. But of course, by the time Lightning and Bohman were to lecture him about how his decisions would have ramifications that would narrow his path to something he might hate to tread over, Ai would already be too far gone to care.

But for now, he was too busy surveying Yusaku's back, wondering how best to get him to turn back round. Rather moodily, after a few seconds, he decided to entertain himself, and was gratified, when not six minutes later, Yusaku decided to turn back round and pretend Ai's intervention was just one more inexplicable antic he had to put with.

'Aw, you forgive me, right?' Ai asked, trying his best to strike a cutesy pose. 'I know deep down you care.'

Yusaku smirked and turned his head away with a slight smile.

But in Yusaku's language, Ai knew that meant a clear 'yes.'

Bring on tomorrow, he thought. They were going to grind Bohman down to dust, him and his partner both. And whoever Yusaku chose to pursue in the future, even if Ai wasn't there to see it, was sure to be someone awesome.

Yusaku was his origin after all. He certainly wouldn't ever choose someone _lame_.

* * *

**Notes:** The calm before the storm basically. Thought I'd better type this up while we still have fond memories of their bickering banter, and happy trust in each other, before it all inevitably turns into angsty and dramatic dialogue between them what with the oncoming plot of season three loaming on the horizon. It's gonna be fun to see, at least.

I may or may not continue this at some point. It depends on how their relationship continues to be shaped throughout the rest of the series.


End file.
